Love Everlasting
by KyoxSakiFan
Summary: What happens between two people who grew up together. Liam/Sharon


**Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts. If I did, so much wouldn't be unknown.**

**Yes folks, this is a kink meme prompt fill. However, there is no sex, as the prompt didn't specifically ask for any, and I just don't think I could fit it in here even if I wanted to. It would ruin the atmosphere. DX**

**Anyway, here's the lovely prompt:**

**Liam/Sharon. What blossoms between two friends who grew up together?**

**Important notes about this story: At this point, we are not sure about whether Shelly Rainsworth is in fact alive or dead. I am assuming that she dies in this story. I do however, think that she is in fact alive, but I am not going to argue to or for in canon until I see some actual evidence or Mochizuki tells us herself. So please do not assume that this is canonly correct, for I am merely taking artistic license to further along the pairing.**

**Also, I am under the distinct impression that Liam was kept in the dark about Oz until he showed up from the Abyss. That also means that it's likely he wasn't informed of Break and Sharon's plans to help Gilbert retrieve him from the Abyss. Please keep that in mind as you're reading.**

**AND LASTLY, although Xerxes Break appears often in this story, the only person he is officially paired with here is Shelly Rainsworth. So if you're looking for a Break x Sharon or Liam x Break story, I have plenty of both on my channel and you need to go elsewhere. Thank you.**

**Now, onward with the story.**

…

He realized that he fancied her at the ripe young age of sixteen. The idea wasn't really all that surprising to him, although he couldn't exactly say that he enjoyed or reveled in it. At the time, he was far too busy for much of anything, however. Between his recent joining of Pandora, consequently becoming a contractor to the elusive March Hare, his affiliation with the Barma household, and dividing his time between his three homes respectively, Liam barely had the time to sleep or eat let alone cultivate a romantic relationship. And that was disregarding their social statuses altogether.

Sharon, being only thirteen years old, was also quite busy for her age. Although a few were opposed to it, Sharon was pressing to join Pandora as well. Liam assumed that a vast majority of her decision had been determined by Xerxes Break's own acceptance into its ranks. Sharon was very fond of her adoptive elder brother, so much in fact that Liam often felt left out on both ends whenever the three were together since he was often on the sidelines. She also had her Grandmother Cheryl Rainsworth's influence pushing her along. The woman was a long standing and respected member of Pandora.

Liam had felt a tinge of jealousy then, realizing that his connection with Pandora probably didn't have anything to do with her decision to join. He knew that he was like a brother to her, someone that she grew up and played with, but he had a tendency to be overlooked in favor of the more important figures in her life. It was disheartening, but he would live with that for as long as he needed to; he was used to it, anyway.

And so, he remained silent.

…

Things went on that way for a few more years. Liam's eighteenth birthday came and passed and so did Sharon's coming of age, although she was not allowed a real ceremony. She was as beautiful as she ever was at the private party, her hair done up elegantly in wavy curls and pulled up behind her head, likely to keep it neat during the course of the night. Her hair framed her delicate, heart shaped face in a way that made him weak in the knees.

Cheryl was there, as well as Sharon's mother Shelly. The woman was supposed to be resting, being slightly ill, but had insisted on accompanying her family on such an important day. Xerxes had been there as well, although the hatter had mostly blended into the background, occasionally weaving in and out of the crowd to stand at Sharon's side, enjoy a drink, or tease Liam. This behavior was a bit strange, even for the exceedingly odd man, but Liam hadn't the time to ponder it, for he was soon pulled aside to attend other matters that required his immediate attention.

And merely a few months afterward, Shelly Rainsworth had passed away.

Sharon had, of course, been quite shaken by the loss of her beloved mother; having looked up to her in a way that most would a mentor, or a close friend. An hour or so after her reported passing, Liam found Sharon huddled outside the door to the bedroom in which Shelly had taken her last breath, eyes darkened with grief.

"Sharon-sama? Where's Xerxes?"

"With Mother; he insists on being by her side until they are prepared to…take her away."

"I see…" This news wasn't very shocking to Liam; since he'd noticed several times that the eccentric man appeared to harbor feelings of the romantic type toward the frail woman. That certainly explained why Sharon had chosen to let Xerxes remain in the room while she waited outside the door, so close and yet so very far from her own mother's bedside. He felt so vastly inferior to her when she did such things, like he was unworthy to so much as breathe the same air.

Even as he thought this, her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

"L-Liam-san..!" She sobbed even as she allowed herself to fall gently against his chest, silently giving him permission to provide her the comfort she'd been denying herself while her mind had been occupied with helping someone else. He'd been surprised at the time, how tightly she clutched onto him, as if she would simply fall to her knees and wilt if he let her go. Every day as he watched her, she was blossoming into a flower of purest beauty, though her body was stunted by her unfortunate decision to follow an organization that strove to strip her of the very innocence and grace she was so known for.

His grip tightened around her waist and she crumbled in his arms as if he'd severed the very thread that held her together—he then proceeded to reattach all the pieces.

…

They didn't spend a lot of time together in the next few months. Liam was held up by his duties under Rufus Barma, while at the same time both Sharon and Xerxes were suitably preoccupied with the young boy Gilbert, who was the newest adopted son of the Nightray family. Liam didn't know the story in its entirety, but he was aware that the boy had previously been a valet of the Bezarius household until the young master Oz was dragged down into the Abyss during his coming of age ceremony, causing a scandalous uproar.

Xerxes had a tendency to confide in him about important things—Sharon as well. Although Liam had been increasingly miffed when he realized that neither really planned on telling him anything about what they were planning. He had managed to get Xerxes to admit, however, that he had taken Gilbert under his wing to help him accomplish his goal to contract the chain Raven, as well as satisfy the older man's own wishes of keeping an eye on the 'Nightray Rats' as he so referred them. Liam wasn't personally fond of the Nightray's himself, but he held no ill will toward them either: although he had to admit that Duke Nightray gave him an uneasy feel. Overall however, it was none of his business, so he opted to stay out of it.

Sharon, it seemed, was also deeply involved in this elaborate scheme of Break's. Liam had a feeling that his lack of involvement had more to do with protecting him than anything either might have against him or his fighting skills, or lack thereof actually. While both of his friend's chains were especially suited to combat, Liam's was rather useless for anything except protection of his own person. It was better that he stayed off the battlefield anyway.

That didn't mean he had to like it, however. Even if he couldn't help out in the field, he could at the very least be of some use in the books, or anything that had to do with Pandora. And considering that both were spending an increasingly apparent amount of time within Pandora's vicinity—he knew as such because he often stumbled across them in the hallway—it was only natural to assume that whatever scheme they were hatching had something to do with Pandora. It stung the slightest bit to know that his friends didn't trust him enough to confide in him.

He wasn't really the jealous type however, so he guiltily swallowed down his feelings of abandonment and hurt and continued down his own path. He also dutifully ignored the fear plaguing the back of his mind, the darkness of loneliness as he realized that if things continued the way they were—which he had no doubt they would—he would end up left behind in the dark to wither away.

…

As it happened, Liam spent a good ten years wallowing in his alone time. He occasionally spoke with Xerxes and or Sharon, mostly at Pandora, but during the time period he mostly stuck to his post as a servant of the Barma household. During this time, his visits to the Rainsworth household became more and more infrequent, until he nearly quit going altogether.

That was when the young Master Oz was thrown out of the Abyss.

At first, Liam was absolutely furious with both Sharon and Xerxes, although he did his best to hide it. Suddenly he knew everything—their plans to rescue Oz from the Abyss, the real reason why Gilbert Nightray contracted Raven, the whole gist of it. And he was hurt because he knew that he could have been of help to them, if only they had trusted his ability to protect himself enough to allow him to.

He had no time to wallow in his own feelings, however. There was too much to be done. Xerxes was becoming increasingly busy, caught up in the business of Oz, Gilbert, and the admittedly somewhat frightening chain B-Rabbit. Sharon, who Liam had been admittedly avoiding, also seemed to have grown a bit caught up in it, although she dutifully set aside enough time for her own duties as future heir of the Rainsworth household. Such was the life of a noble, he supposed. Liam decided it was just his luck that the girl he'd grown to fancy was a noble. He couldn't live even a semi-normal life if he actually tried.

Chuckling a bit at his own misfortune, Liam went back to his paperwork. It wasn't worth contemplating further when there was so much work to be done.

…

Things really didn't start to develop between them once more until Xerxes's health suddenly took a sharp turn for the worse. The incident at the meeting with Duke Barma plagued Liam's mind like a dark, foreboding storm cloud. Liam wasn't unintelligent by any means—quite the opposite actually—but he still found himself struggling with the puzzle that he'd been given to piece together. On one hand, there was the Xerxes Break that he'd always known—the angry, sad, infuriating, and somewhat troubled man that had become his best friend over the years.

On the other hand, there was a serial killer. A man who had killed over one hundred people.

How could they be one in the same? His mind couldn't seem to comprehend it. And yet, at the same time it made so much sense—explained so much about the man that Liam could physically feel his heart sink in his chest with fear. Not fear of Xerxes, for he knew that the man wouldn't harm him, but fear for him.

And in his fear, he went to Sharon.

"You requested an audience with me, Liam-san?" Sharon appeared a bit shaken up, as Liam had expected. It was unlike him to request a meeting with her as formally as it was. It was also likely that she'd realized what exactly this particular meeting was about, following the frightening condition of her adopted brother when he returned home the week before. It was obvious just by looking at her face that she had not slept much—her eyes, which were normally bright and energetic, were much darker than usual. Her face seemed to be marred with a frown that Liam feared he might make permanent. Sharon was already worrying enough, what right did he have to make it worse?

But at the same time, what right did he have to keep it from her?

"Yes, I did. I have something very important to tell you," Liam sighed and sunk down on the couch, watching as Sharon hesitantly did the same on the one opposite him. He was a bit unnerved by this—how was he supposed to keep a straight expression with her large, somewhat frightened eyes staring up at him like that? His heart ached at the sight, but he'd grown to ignore it over the years. Still, no other woman had ever captivated him so.

"Is it…about Break?"

Liam closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his fluttering heart. It was now or never.

And so, he told her all that he knew about Kevin Regnard and the transition to Xerxes Break, the Abyss, and the mysterious Will that held the power.

Sharon shakily stood when all was over, eyes a little wider than usual. She didn't seem angry, but he could tell that he'd given her a lot to think about. He wasn't concerned that her perception of Xerxes would change because of the information he'd given her—his hadn't changed either, only made him worry more and make several connections that rightfully alarmed him. His only real concern was that he'd burdened her with information that she could have gone without, really. Xerxes had chosen to keep it from her, probably for his own reasons, but Liam had gone out of his way to tell her, therefore betraying the trust he'd been bestowed with. He felt incredibly guilty.

"T-Thank you for telling me, Liam," Liam flushed a bit, startled at her abrupt closeness. Her fingertips grazed his hair, patting down the frazzled strands that he never truly knew what to do with. He could feel the freezing temperature of her skin, feel the fear emanating from her—fear they both shared. He could only nod in response and allow her to pull him close, slightly startled when he realized that he was shaking a little bit as well. He despised his body's own willingness to betray him whenever Sharon Rainsworth was concerned. Her touch always unraveled him in ways that he couldn't explain—his façade would never hold up underneath her searching, unbridled contact.

So he held her, hands rising to stroke her hair as gently as the moment allowed. She rested her face against his chest, her hands still shaking the slightest bit as they clenched at the front of his uniform. His blush had slowly receded, as well as the panic that had previously seized him. Instead he felt a frightening sense of calm wash over him, a feeling of power that he'd never experienced before. He wondered if this was what it truly meant to love someone, the yearning to protect them from everything that warred against everything else.

And when she fell asleep against him, he couldn't help but admire her strength as a tear finally slipped down her face, no longer held back by her in her vulnerable state.

It was just one trait out of many that he envied about her—she truly was growing up to be a strong, willful woman.

Soon, she wouldn't need him to protect her anymore.

…

Suddenly, Liam felt closer to them than he'd ever felt over the years. His trips to Rainsworth thus became more frequent—both to check up on her and Xerxes. He'd also begun speaking with Cheryl Rainsworth again, although she was still as unnerving as ever. He couldn't help but shiver silently underneath the knowing gaze she sent his way whenever he spoke with her.

Of course, the calm could only last for so long. Soon enough, there was the young Master Oz pestering him for permission to enter Sabrie and the disappearance of one Xerxes Break. His gut churned uncomfortably with worry and dread—the look on Xerxes's face the last time he'd seen him kept flashing in his mind, the resignation in his eye as he stared off into space. He hadn't said anything to him then, too caught up in his own horror to realize that something was very wrong.

The look on Sharon's face when she ran up to him, cheeks flushed and eyes wide as she told him Xerxes was missing immediately made him regret his selfishness. He felt like such a horrible friend to both, first for ignoring the needs of his best friend and secondly for upsetting Sharon once more. Everything was becoming so confusing, with Xerxes running around getting injured all the time, the elaborate scheme of Barma's that Liam was becoming unwillingly caught up in, as well as his stubborn loyalty to the Rainsworth house and to the woman he fancied so. His life had suddenly become a tangled web of lies, deceit and hurt that he could not seem to escape from. But what could he—a mere servant that couldn't even fight—do in the face of things so out of his control? The whole situation was becoming more and more frustrating by the minute.

And then things managed to grow worse. The guilt only magnified in his gut when he realized that Xerxes could no longer see. If only he'd done more to help, then maybe Xerxes wouldn't be suffering so much now. He could only hope to make himself useful by picking up the work that the man could no longer do. He'd failed them both as a friend. He could only sit back and watch as his best friend deteriorated before his eyes and Sharon cried and struggled with her own insecurities—there was only so much he could protect her from, after all. He could not deny her the right to experience her own pain and to learn from it. Such was inhumane, as well as insulting.

So he did what he did best—he sat back and watched everything unfold.

…

Of course, this plan didn't last for very long. First there was Oz's second coming of age ceremony, which as expected did not go as planned. Liam had nearly perished and there were several other guests that were not lucky enough to come out of the experience alive. During his recovery, he spent most of the time sleeping; only occasionally opening his eyes to take a drink of water or whatever else his body demanded of him. He was grateful, however, when he noticed Sharon's handkerchief sitting on the nightstand. Obviously she had been sitting by his bedside, probably trying to keep his fever down.

He fell back asleep with a small smile on his face, no matter how much it aggravated the wound on his cheek.

And then of course everything had picked up once again. Barma's scheme came into play and everything skyrocketed around him. He woke up right in the middle of it, although he didn't know about most of it until it was all over and his friends returned to the mansion, battered and bruised and so very weary of everything and nothing. Oz looked to be the worst at first sight and Gilbert the second—they seemed to be deliberately ignoring each other in a way that made Liam's blood feel cold underneath his skin. However, it wasn't his place to intervene, so he stayed silent. He was more concerned about Xerxes and Sharon.

Xerxes, as it was, appeared as if he'd been trampled on by a horse of great strength several times. His coat was torn in many places and he was leaning heavily on his cane, too tired to even keep up his façade of being even remotely fine. Sharon, of course, was by his side the whole time, the fear evident in her gaze as she helped him to his bed, where he promptly passed out for several days.

It was on one of these days that he joined her at Xerxes's bedside.

"Oh, it's you Liam," Sharon smiled softly at him and Liam immediately realized that she hadn't been sleeping much. The dark circles under her eyes and her shaking hands, which were holding on to a half empty cup of tea were both evidence of this. He sighed and pulled up a chair next to her, wincing when he noticed that Xerxes appeared to be feverish and struggling to breathe, occasionally coughing in his sleep.

He startled when she suddenly spoke, "I'm scared, Liam. He just keeps getting worse—"

"I know," was all he could bring himself to say to her. She wasn't crying, but that didn't really surprise him much. After all, it was obvious from the way she was acting that she was beginning to grow up. She sighed and took another sip of tea—Liam wondered how many cups she'd had, as well as how many she would have gone through had he not shown up.

"You should rest. I'll watch him for a few hours—"

"But—"

"Sharon-sama, I have been up for several days in the past. I am more than capable of watching over my best friend."

"I…" The look on her face was stricken, as if he'd smacked her outright. Obviously she was startled by his defiance of her, as it was unlike him. "All right…"

"I'll escort you to your chambers," He held out his hand, which she hesitantly took. He led her down the hallway and up the two flights of stairs to her room. The bed was made and upon Liam's hesitant touch upon the covers, extremely cold and unsettling. Obviously she hadn't slept at all in quite some time.

Sharon didn't even bother to ask him to leave in order to change. She slipped into the bed fully clothed, not even thinking to cover herself with the blankets, and promptly curled up and fell asleep. Liam was so shocked he could only watch her for a few moments, taking in the way her tired face seemed to be slowly turning peaceful again, despite the happenings in the wakening world. She was a woman of unmatchable beauty in his eyes—no longer the young girl that she appeared to be. He was growing older, but—despite her inhabitations—it seemed that she was also beginning to appear more her age, even if only in manner.

He failed to notice the nearly silent murmur of his name as he slipped out of her private quarters.

…

The first kiss shocked her as much as it did him. Sharon had been the instigator; although afterward she appeared so startled that she had the courage to do it that Liam couldn't even bring himself to say anything to her about her forwardness. It had been only a small peck, nothing really resembling an actual kiss, but it made Liam's heart swell with hope.

They didn't talk for several days after that. Both seemed to be circling around the subject—the inevitable meeting that would occur. Nervousness was undeniably a huge factor—neither had much experience in the ways of romance, despite Sharon's love of the subject at hand. On the other hand, Sharon was the only woman Liam had ever fancied enough to even consider a crush, let alone love.

Not to mention, of course, that there existed a divide in Liam's mind that he was having difficulty with. Rufus Barma, it seemed, had many plans for him yet. However, his master had betrayed Cheryl Rainsworth, leaving him on the other side of the chasm. If he were to follow his master's wishes, he'd be betraying both Sharon and Xerxes.

No matter the situation, whether Rufus was a double agent, whether he'd lost his mind, Liam knew that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it. Both meant too much to him.

And so when Rufus Barma's summons came, Liam ignored them and stayed by their side. Another kiss came after that, this one much better than the last, one meant to make a mark upon his conscious—she was grateful for his heart, his understanding. He was torn between acceptance of the situation and denying himself the warmth he so desired because he was afraid of giving in to her.

One day, Pandora sent him out on a field mission. Liam was rightfully frightened—his last field mission had nearly gotten him killed. It wasn't much, just a search party. Pandora sent him out, along with a few other agents, to see if they could locate his master.

The encounter ended up with them running for their lives from the Baskervilles.

Liam returned to the Rainsworth house that night, exhausted and suitably frayed from his encounter. Eyes dim, hands shaking with fear, he entered his room and was nearly bowled over with the force behind her kisses. He didn't have the strength to deny her that night and it seemed she didn't either.

He woke up the next morning and made a mad dash for his room before she awoke, flustered with disbelief, self-hate boiling up inside. How could he allow himself to deflower her so inappropriately? He was a servant and she the heir to Rainsworth—it was unthinkable!

As it was, he hadn't much time to contemplate his situation. Still tired and injured, Xerxes Break later barged into his room, eye blazing with substantial fury, face contorted with rage. Liam realized that day that the wrath of Xerxes Break that was overprotective over his "younger sister" was even worse than angry, early Rainsworth Break who was violent and frightening. He decided that he much preferred the violent, outlandish Break to the silent, boiling anger.

As it was, the fight hardly lasted very long. Xerxes had quite the temper, but he no longer had the energy to fume for very long. As it was, it turned out that he was mostly upset at being left out of the loop rather than the entire relationship anyway.

Liam couldn't help but chuckle to himself when Xerxes left, recalling the fierce lecture he'd received. It made everything more official, he felt. If Sharon cared enough to tell Xerxes, then he no longer could doubt her feelings, for she knew exactly how he would react.

They still kept their relationship on the low, however. Xerxes was one thing, but Gilbert and the others were too caught up in their own elaborate mess for such an insignificant thing to even matter. Cheryl as well, was recovering from his master's supposed "betrayal" and was still trying to right herself once more within Pandora's community as she lost the gate to the abyss.

It was nice to think about the future, he contemplated one night as he held her. She'd taken to sneaking into his room once the maids were all asleep and the mansion had fallen under a blanket of eerie quiet. This was nothing strange to him, however—she would do the same thing when they were younger. He'd wake up in the morning with her curled up at his side, hands fisted in his nightshirt as if frightened by the very night that he found so comforting.

The past made him smile, but the future made him smile more.

He couldn't wait for the day that he'd be able to hold her tight and not have to worry about the Baskervilles whisking his life away at any giving moment, that he would leave her alone in the cold, unforgiving world. It was a frightening thought—Xerxes Break wouldn't hold out forever, that much he'd come to terms with, but the thought of his own death had never crossed his mind until the day he was nearly pulverized by Lily Baskerville.

Liam smiled as she mumbled in her sleep and snuggled up closer to him. In return, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, inhaling the soft fragrance that clung to her like an addiction. Just being next to her made him feel warm and happy.

Now he just had to pray for the best—it was all someone like him could do, after all.


End file.
